This Computerized Baseball Measures Way More Than Pitching Velocity

Neither my wife nor I was ever that kind of baseball parent. Yeah, our son was a pretty good player with a great arm. He was a relief pitcher on his high school varsity team and had been clocked at 85 miles per hour, at age 16. But neither he nor we ever had any delusions about him being Major League Baseball material. And if you’ve ever had a kid playing organized baseball, you know the parents I’m referring to. The stands are full of smug, obnoxious adults trying to push in everyone’s faces how their 12-year-old is destined to start for the Yankees some day. Truth is, most of their unfortunate children burn out on the game by high school...maybe because they were pushed too hard?

This is no ordinary baseball.Diamond Kinetics

But I digress. Diamond Kinetics has been trying to marry technology with sports for some time now, and as it applies to baseball, sells a pretty cool tool to measure a child’s bat speed, swing plane and even swing efficiency on an iPhone. And now the company has come up with a way to gauge pitchers, as well. Its PitchTracker baseball has a computer chip inside. Pair it with an Apple device and it can measure your child’s pitch speed, ball rotation, spin rate, arm extension, time for the ball to get to home plate, and other pertinent metrics. It’s way more thorough than a simple radar gun. Or those old baseballs sporting a speed-sensor window that shows the velocity after you throw it. And if my son was still coming up through the ranks trying to pitch, it would be a no-brainer to invest the $100 price into one of these to help him improve, and to see how a particular arm delivery slot or shoulder movement translates to pitch speed and ball movement.

Thing is, kids are not really the ones using this ball on a mass level yet -- although it is now available to consumers. There are throngs of Major League Baseball and NCAA teams employing PitchTracker, to help their pitching staffers get a better feel for their mechanics and results. As the product’s marketing material implies, it’s made by coaches for coaches.

I’ve been trying it out the past week, just to have a little fun and see how well I can throw. I also let a baseball-crazy neighbor kid gauge his pitches. The ball itself feels just like a real baseball. But its stitching is green instead of red, and it doesn’t have that fresh leather smell that I love. Pairing it to a phone was quick, after I downloaded the free app. By the way, in case you’re wondering how to juice it up, you just rest the ball on an included wireless charging plate for about two hours. Then it’s ready to be thrown.

Just a caution: It doesn’t register pitches slower than 30 miles per hour. So if your child is really young, getting this ball may be a bit premature. Regardless, it’s an interesting tool to help your son or daughter become a better pitcher. But please don’t let their success go to your head.

I'm a veteran, Southern California-based writer primarily versed in golf and personal technology. Studying Computer Sciences in college, and then working as a programmer/software engineer for about a decade, triggered my passion for today's high-end, high-tech gadgets. I ca...